Chocolate Hazelnut Bread

Chocolate Hazelnut Bread ~ a simple yeasted loaf of fluffy sweet bread, loaded with chunks of bittersweet chocolate and toasted hazelnuts. Serve with a slathering of Nutella for a wonderful treat!

There’s something about making a loaf of yeast bread that is a totally satisfying kitchen experience, when it turns out great, of course. This is one of those times. The soft fluffy texture, the crisp sweet crust, big bites of bittersweet chocolate and toasted hazelnuts – yes … totally satisfying and easy too!

The only thing difficult about this bread is trying to decide if you eat it for breakfast or dessert. Save yourself the trouble and don’t decide 😉

I have baked this loaf in a small Dutch oven, pictured above, and a square glass casserole dish. Both loaves came out beautiful.

Don’t count on this being around the house for a long time, it disappears like magic! Good thing it’s so easy to make.

Don’t cut corners and use chocolate chips. The hand chopped bittersweet chocolate chunks melt into the fiber of the bread giving you bursts of rich chocolate flavor. The Nutella doesn’t hurt either!

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Chocolate Hazelnut Bread

Prep Time

30mins

Cook Time

45mins

Total Time

1hr10mins

A simple yeasted loaf of fluffy sweet bread, loaded with chunks of bittersweet chocolate and toasted hazelnuts. Serve with a slathering of Nutella for a wonderful treat!

In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 cups of the flour, the brown sugar, yeast, and salt. Set aside.

In a small saucepan combine the evaporated milk, butter and 1/4 cup of water. Heat until the butter is almost melted and the mixture reaches 120-130 degrees on an instant read thermometer. Add the warm milk mixture to the flour mixture and add one of the eggs. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until combined, about 30 seconds. Beat on high speed for 3 minutes. This will be a very sticky, shaggy dough. Stir in the chopped chocolate and hazelnuts.

Now add some of the remaining flour stirring with a wooden spoon until the dough is soft, but still sticky. I used the remaining 1 1/2 cups, but no more. Cover and let the dough rise in a warm place until it doubles in size (about 1 hour).

Grease a 2-quart round or square baking dish. Punch down the dough and transfer to the prepared pan. Cover and let the dough rise again in a warm place until double in size (about 1 hour).

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl beat the remaining egg with 1 tablespoon water until blended. Brush the egg mixture on the top of the bread then sprinkle with the turbinado (or coarse) sugar.

Bake for 50 minutes or until the loaf sounds hollow when lightly tapped. Cover the bread with foil after the first twenty minutes of baking to prevent over browning. Cool in the dish for about 10 minutes then transfer to a rack to cool completely. Serve with Nutella if desired.

Recipe Notes

Make sure the butter and milk mixture is not too hot. Anything above 120-130 degrees will kill the yeast.

Baking time may vary depending on the size of the pan used to bake the bread. If the loaf is not very thick, check at the 30 minute interval. For a thick loaf, bake 45-50 minutes.

If baking in a glass pan, be sure to reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees.

I have never made a sweet yeast bread (generally chicken of yeast) but that is going to change with this recipe. I like the idea of the texture of a yeast bread with the chocolate chips and sweetness that I would think of with a quick bread. Yum. :)<br /&gt

Oh my goodness. This looks AMAZING. Then you had to go and put Nutella on top? I have to say, I recently made plain, unadulterated, roasted hazelnut butter, and I liked it even better than the chocolate version. [Gasp!] Of course, now I need some bread to spread it on…